Botox Found Guilty of Illegal Marketing and Promotion

September 16, 2010|32,811views

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Allergan, which manufactures the cosmetic medication Botox, has agreed to pay $600 million to settle a federal investigation into its marketing of the botulin-based drug.

The company will plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge of "misbranding" – meaning the company's marketing led physicians to use Botox for unapproved uses. These uses included treatment of headache, pain, spasticity and cerebral palsy in children.

According to ABC News:

“Allergan said it will pay $375 million in connection with the plea, which includes the forfeiture of $25 million in assets. Additionally, the company will pay $225 million in civil fines -- $210 million to the federal governments and the rest to several states -- related to the investigation, although the company denies liability for the civil claims.”

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

The case of Allergan Inc. stealing taxpayer money and putting people’s health at risk through fraudulent marketing practices is just the last in a long line of such cases that have come to light in recent years.

Several major drug companies have recently been scrutinized and reached multibillion dollar settlements over their illegal marketing practices.

Allergan Taught Doctors to Scam the Government and Promoted Off-Label Uses of Botox

Most people are familiar with Botox Cosmetic, a botulin-based drug that temporarily paralyzes your facial muscles, which will smooth out wrinkles.

But the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also approved the drug Botox Therapeutic for a very limited number of therapeutic uses, such as cervical dystonia in adults.

ABC News quotes Sally Yates, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia as saying:

"The FDA had approved therapeutic uses of Botox for only four rare conditions, yet Allergan made it a top corporate priority to maximize sales of far more lucrative off-label uses that were not approved by the FDA.

Allergan further demanded tremendous growth in these off-label sales year after year, even when there was little clinical evidence that these uses were effective."

Some of the off-label uses Allergan is accused of directly promoting to doctors include the treatment of:

Headaches

Pain

Spasticity and cerebral palsy in children

The off-label use for pediatric patients is perhaps one of the more disturbing, as safety and effectiveness in children have never been established for this drug.

But no matter what your age, if Botox is used “off-label,” you’re taking unnecessary risks with your health.

This became clear six years ago, when Irena Medavoy, the wife of a Hollywood producer, sued Allergan after suffering “life-altering intractable headaches, fibromyalgia, extreme neck weakness, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, and extreme fatigue,” after receiving Botox injections for her migraines – an off-label use -- according to one report.

Fortunately, since then the promotion of off-label uses have started receiving more scrutiny, and when a company is found to actively educate doctors on these illegal uses, federal investigators have gotten better at clamping down.

“Allergan "paid kickbacks to induce physicals to inject Botox for off-label uses and Allergan also taught doctors how to bill for off-label uses, including coaching doctors how to miscode Botox claims leading to millions of dollars of false claims being to submitted to federal and state programs," Assistant Attorney General Tony West said.”

In this case, Allergan will plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of “misbranding,” and will pay $600 million to settle the case against them. This may sound like a lot of money, but it’s really peanuts when you consider the fact that the Botox brand brought in more than $1.3 BILLION last year alone.

More Illegal Activities…

Like so many other pharmaceutical companies, Allergan Inc. appears to have been more committed to illegal activities than protecting the health and welfare of patients.

Company Officers May Also Be Sued

On September 2, the law office of Robbins Umeda LLP announced it was launching an investigation into “possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of the law” by Allergan’s directors, claiming the officers may have damaged the company by permitting “illegal tactics to promote Botox for these unapproved uses, including paying kickbacks to doctors.”

The law office is urging shareholders to jump on the class action bandwagon.

Regardless of whether anything comes of it, I truly believe that one of the more effective ways to begin to curtail this behavior of pandemic corruption and fraud is by forcing actual people to face the music.

When there is no risk whatsoever, the worst human inclinations tend to flourish, and there should be little doubt that greed has taken over most Big Pharma business models at this point.

The Pandemic of Medical Fraud and Illegal Activities

The corruption, fraud, and illegal activities of pharmaceutical companies appear to have reached a hitherto unprecedented high.

The False Claims Act Legal Center’s web site contains a long, nauseating list of criminal activities by Big Pharma. I urge you to take a look for yourself, to gain some perspective – these are the companies your doctor places his trust in. And by default, by listening to your doctor, you’re putting your life in their hands as well.

I challenge you to take a look at the list of criminal activities perpetrated by some of the biggest, most well-known companies in the world, and still come to the conclusion that your health is in good hands.

But physicians must also, en masse, come to the realization that most often, drug reps cannot be trusted. This may be one of the most difficult areas to change, as the pharmaceutical industry has devised a highly effective system of indoctrination and very specific psychological techniques to manipulate, deceive and brainwash physicians.

Doctors usually believe they are immune to persuasion tactics, and drug reps know just how important it is to maintain that illusion -- which is why it works so well.

Consider for a moment the in-depth report published in both The New England Journal of Medicine and PLoS Medicine, which admitted that pharmaceutical sales reps are trained in tactics that are on par with some of the most potent brainwashing techniques used throughout the world!

The idea that reps provide some kind of valuable, informative service to physicians is total fiction, created and perpetuated by the drug industry, to keep this deadly, but profitable, scheme going.

Watch the Pharma Fraud Show

"The United States healthcare industry is the world’s biggest – with $300 billion a year spent on prescription drugs alone, and rising.

But recent months have seen health scandal after health scandal, with some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies fined billions of dollars.

These cases are beginning to reveal vast corruption in the drug industry, with revelations of fraud, of cover-ups of fatal side effects and huge kickbacks paid to doctors.”

Until real change takes place, please don't risk your money or your life on a paradigm designed to profit from your ill health. Take control of your health by adopting natural lifestyle strategies that will promote your body’s natural healing abilities without the need for potentially dangerous drugs.

Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.

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